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Canning Bacon Jam?

We love love love the Bacon Jam from Kayb! I think this would make fantastic Christms presents for my pork-centric brothers. Anybody know if Bacon Jam can be preserved? I do not have a pressure cooker only the old fashioned Ball canning equipment. I preserve fruit jams all the time but am unsure about something with meat in it. Think it can be done? How long could it be kept on the shelf? Any ideas? Thanks!

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Eugenia is the author of the book Well-Preserved. Her new preserving book, The Kitchen Ecosystem, will be published in 2014.

added about 7 years ago

SKK is right: You can only preserve meat products in a pressure canner. That is because you need a lot of heat to kill off the spoilers that can reside in low acid foods--significantly more heat than that produced by boiling water--and meat is a low acid food. But don't be scared of pressure canners. They are easy to use and super effective, and with one, you can put up anything.

I LOVE bacon jam.
Agreed as suggested in the other posts that you need a pressure canner. I found your blog while searching this exact question; thought I coule share the answer I found:
1/2 pint jars at 11 lbs psi for 75 minutes
Source: http://creativecanning.blogspot.com/2010/03/bacon-jam.html

Good advice. I've never used a pressure canner before and I'm intimidated. I'm trying to borrow one to see if it is something I could get used to. Any pointers about how to use a pressure canner for Bacon Jam?

I tried pressure canning the bacon jam I made today, but it came out kinda burnt. Isn't pressure canning bacon for 75 mins too much for the meat? I read somewhere that pork can be pressure canned for about 8 mins because its such a tender meat.

Just curious - Since bacon is a cured meat and subject to fewer/different bacteria issues than say fresh cooked meat, would it need to be canned at a different temperature and/or time to un-cured pork?

Eugenia is the author of the book Well-Preserved. Her new preserving book, The Kitchen Ecosystem, will be published in 2014.

added about 5 years ago

Brittany: The USDA/university extension offices provide data for canning various foods, but I haven't seen one for bacon jam. So that puts the canner in the less than ideal situation of having to estimate pressure canning times. Your estimate of 75 minutes was the same that I would have used, the same as meat strips (pork and beef are processed the same amount of time. Tenderness is not the issue, pH is). I wouldn't process for less time. But maybe you can cut the timing shorter during the precooking stage. Trampledbygeese, when it comes to pressure canning, you don't alter the temperature--it's 10 lbs at sea level and more as you rise in altitude--but the time. So can cured pork process for less time than uncured pork? Without data to determine that answer, I'd err on the side of safety.

Thanks for explaining Eugenia. I have to admit, I never even considered canning meat before. I usually just freeze, cure, dry or a mixture of the above. I do have a pressure canner I use to use for apple sauce. But now I'm interested and have a lot of goat meat coming my way....hmmm, something to think about.

Going to go check the seals on my pressure canner before I think too much further.

Eugenia is the author of the book Well-Preserved. Her new preserving book, The Kitchen Ecosystem, will be published in 2014.

added about 5 years ago

Trampledbygeese, I think you will find pressure canning meat to be safe and easy. I put up lots of stuff, but on a regular basis, chicken and beef stock, which process for only 20 minutes (10 lbs at sea level), and lately I've been putting up beef stew and mailing it to my son in college. He loves it!

You must consider this too - the bacon in the jam is candied, in sugars, with or without onions. Pressure canning sugar for long periods of time tends to burn the sugars. There are recipes for can-able bacon jams online, they just need to be dug up - I would almost rather have it frozen or refrigerated than PC it and burn it.